Circular No. 04/2010/TT-BGDĐT on Amending and Supplementing Certain Articles of the Examination Regulation for Outstanding Students issued together with Decision No. 52/2006/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 29, 2006, and amended and supplemented by Decision No. 68/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated November 6, 2007, and Decision No. 70/2008/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2008, of the Minister of Education and Training.

CIRCULAR

Regarding amendments and supplements to certain provisions of the Regulations on the Examination for Outstanding Studentsissued together with Decision No. 52/2006/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 29, 2006, and amended and supplemented by Decision No. 68/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated November 6, 2007, Decision No. 70/2008/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2008 of the Minister of Education and Training Pursuant to Decree No. 178/2007/NĐ-CP dated December 3, 2007 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of ministries and ministerial-level agencies;Amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Regulations on the Examination for Outstanding Students issued together with Decision No. 52/2006/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 29, 2006, and amended and supplemented by Decision No. 68/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated November 6, 2007, Decision No. 70/2008/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2008 of the Minister of Education and Training as follows:1. Point d Clause 2 Article 7 is amended and supplemented as follows:

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"d) Not during a period of disciplinary action or being pursued for criminal responsibility."

Pursuant to Decree No. 32/2008/NĐ-CP dated March 19, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to Decree No. 75/2006/NĐ-CP dated August 2, 2006 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Education Law;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Testing and Quality Assurance,

The Minister of Education and Training decides:

Article 1. 2. Clause 7 Article 20 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"7. The examination questions (including proposed examination questions) that have not been used and related materials concerning the content of the examination questions shall be classified as Top Secret according to the provisions of Decision No. 32/2005/QĐ-TTg dated February 7, 2005."

3. Paragraph 4 Point a Clause 2 Article 32 is amended and supplemented as follows:

- The marking of examinations must ensure accuracy, fairness, objectivity, and correct assessment of the results of the examinees':

+ Scores for examination papers must be given in accordance with the marking scheme approved by the Head of the Marking Committee;

+ The score of a question in an examination paper is the sum of the component scores of that question. The score of an examination paper is the total score of all questions in the examination paper, without rounding off, on a scale of 20 points.

4. Clause 3 Article 34 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"3. Proportion of awards for each subject

The total number of awards from Encouragement Awards upwards shall not exceed 60% of the number of examinees. Among them, the total number of First, Second, and Third Prizes shall not exceed 75% of the total number of awards; the number of First Prizes shall not exceed 5% of the total number of awards."

5. Point b Clause 1 Article 40 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"b) Persons participating in examination work who violate the Examination Regulations (discovered while performing their duties or after the examination period), if there is sufficient evidence, will be subject to disciplinary action under the Law on Cadres and Civil Servants according to the following forms of punishment depending on the severity of the violation:

- Reprimand for minor offenses committed while performing duties.

- Immediate suspension from examination work upon discovery and warning for persons violating any of the following offenses:

+ Providing incorrect or out-of-syllabus examination questions;

+ Bringing prohibited materials or items into the examination question preparation area, examination room, or marking room;

+ Neglecting responsibilities in preparing for the examination, affecting its results;

+ Neglecting responsibilities while supervising the examination, allowing examinees to copy or use prohibited materials or items in the examination room;

+ Marking examinations incorrectly or making numerous errors.

- Immediate suspension from examination work upon discovery and, depending on the severity of the violation, may result in demotion in pay grade, demotion in rank, or removal from position for persons committing any of the following offenses:

+ Directly solving examination questions for examinees during the examination period;

+ Giving scores outside the prescribed range or lowering scores of examinees;

+ Revealing the identification numbers of examination papers;

+ Altering or adding to the answers of examinees;

+ Correcting scores on examination papers or marking sheets;

+ Losing examination papers when collecting, transporting, storing, or marking them.

- Immediate suspension from examination work upon discovery, dismissal, or referral to criminal prosecution for persons committing any of the following offenses:

+ Taking examination questions out of the examination area or bringing solutions from outside into the examination area during the examination period;

+ Revealing examination questions; buying or selling examination questions;

+ Swapping examination papers, identification numbers, or scores of examinees;

+ Fraudulently altering examinees' records (altering school transcripts, grade books, and other related documents);

+ Organized cheating during the examination."

Abolish the provision "no contact or invitation of outsiders to train or prepare those teaching and learning at one's own unit in any form or time" in Clause 2 Article 15 of the Regulations on the Examination for Outstanding Students issued together with Decision No. 52/2006/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 29, 2006, and amended and supplemented by Decision No. 68/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated November 6, 2007, Decision No. 70/2008/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2008 of the Minister of Education and Training.

This Circular takes effect from March 28, 2010. All previous regulations contrary to this Circular are hereby abolished.

The Director of the Office, the Director of the Department of Examinations and Quality Assurance, Heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; Chairpersons of People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities; Directors of provincial Departments of Education and Training; Directors of Hanoi National University; Directors of Ho Chi Minh City National University; Principals of universities having specialized high schools and high school classes and Principals of boarding schools for ethnic minority students under the Ministry of Education and Training are responsible for implementing this Circular./.

Article 2. Abolish the provision "no contact or invitation of outsiders to participate in review sessions or training for teachers and students of the unit under any form or time" at Clause 2, Article 15 of the Examination Regulation for Outstanding Students issued together with Decision No. 52/2006/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 29, 2006, and amended and supplemented by Decision No. 68/2007/QĐ-BGDĐT dated November 6, 2007, and Decision No. 70/2008/QĐ-BGDĐT dated December 22, 2008, of the Minister of Education and Training.

Article 3. This Circular takes effect from March 28, 2010. All previous provisions contrary to this Circular are abolished.

Article 4. The Director of the Office, the Director of the Testing and Quality Assurance Department, the Heads of relevant units under the Ministry of Education and Training; the Chairmen of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities; the Directors of provincial Departments of Education and Training; the Rectors of Hanoi National University; the Rectors of Ho Chi Minh City National University; the Principals of universities having specialized high school classes or grades and the Principals of boarding schools for ethnic minorities under the Ministry of Education and Training are responsible for implementing this Circular./.